


living in a material world

by duelistkingdom



Series: katsuya jounouchi's birthday  2021 [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, canon background for jounouchi, working class backgrounds for jounouchi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28987809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duelistkingdom/pseuds/duelistkingdom
Summary: jounouchi really wishes he could afford atem's tastes. lucky for him, atem's a quick study.
Relationships: Atem/Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler, Dragonshipping - Relationship, Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Yami Yuugi
Series: katsuya jounouchi's birthday  2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126082
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	living in a material world

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to ruby for beta'ing this and the previous fic. i normally mention that in each one but i forgot last time. seriously, she's the best.

Jonouchi had a pretty good life these days. He was grateful that Atem had gotten to stay because as a result, they’d gotten closer and well, things progressed and now Atem was his boyfriend. To say he felt lucky to have a best friend like Yugi and a boyfriend like Atem was an understatement. He felt on top of the world, even. Well, except for just one thing: Atem had very expensive tastes, and Jonouchi wasn’t exactly the wealthiest guy in Domino City. He wasn’t even the wealthiest guy in his friend group, actually. Which meant that he was now searching for jobs to make sure that he could afford to buy Atem nice things.

Atem was, after all, worth spending money on. It just meant that Jonouchi needed to find a way to pay for all the things Atem wanted out of life. It wasn’t often a guy got a second chance at life, after all. It didn’t matter how much money it took. Jonouchi was going to make sure that Atem got to enjoy his second life. Jonouchi had found a job that was steady enough that would allow him to finish his studies and now that he was good enough, he could enter Duel Monsters tournaments to win a few cash prizes. He set all the money aside with the intention of using it to get him and Atem a place to stay. The sooner he got out of that stupid apartment and away from his dad, the better. His dad didn’t know that Jonouchi had money, nor did he know about his relationship with Atem, and Jonouchi intended to keep it that way. The last thing he needed was his dad getting involved with his relationship with Atem.

He knew for a fact that his father would absolutely disapprove of Atem. For many reasons. Starting with the fact that Atem was a guy. He suspected his dad wouldn’t be too keen on the black part either. He’d heard his dad say enough awful shit to know that he needed to keep Atem far away from his father. It wasn’t that he was scared of his father being violent to him – he could handle that. He was scared of his father being violent towards Atem. It made sense that Jonouchi also started spending less time around his dad as well. Instead, he started spending more time at the Kame Game Shop with Yugi and Atem and making excuses as to why he shouldn’t bother going home.

Getting an afterschool job was merely a perk at this point. Now he had many reasons to never go back home, and bounced between staying with Atem and Yugi and staying the night at Anzu’s. Anzu was more or less understanding about why he didn’t want to go home, but she kept insisting he should tell both Atem and Yugi about what was going on. “You know Atem and Yugi would let you stay with them,” she said one night while they were doing face masks. “I don’t get why you keep this to yourself.”

“I just... I can’t let them know, Anzu,” Jonouchi said in frustration. How could he begin to explain that he didn’t want to burden either of them with how much he was struggling? It wasn’t like either of them could do anything about it anyway. No, this was Jonouchi’s problem and Jonouchi’s problem alone. He wasn’t going to drag his best friend and his boyfriend down with him. “Besides, I’m getting close to being able to move out soon. Then it won’t be an issue at all.”

Anzu sighed as she rolled over on her bed, sprawled out as she examined her nails. “You should still probably tell them you’re planning on moving out from your dad’s place soon,” Anzu remarked casually. “I think they deserve that much.”

Even though Anzu had a point, Jonouchi still hid his problems from both Yugi and Atem. He just couldn’t bring himself to look in either of their eyes and admit to weakness. He knew both of them already knew that there was something not right with his home life yet... He just couldn’t dump that on them. They’d been through enough already. Who was he to dump everything on them?

This would be a great plan if it wasn’t for the fact that Yugi was just too smart for his own good. He was able to see right through most anyone. He still couldn’t believe that Yugi had not only managed to see right through Kaiba, but break down his walls enough to date him. That just didn’t make sense to him. Yugi just seemed a little too good for Kaiba, was all. This distracted him and gave him something to fixate on during the banal minimum wage job he was working. He was so close, really. Just a few more weeks and then he’d be free to...well, he couldn’t quit. He’d still have to make rent, he realized, barely suppressing the grimace that wanted to form on his face. He was never that good at planning ahead.

It was probably why Atem did all the date planning, which tended to mean that Jonouchi was often looking down the barrel of a rather large bill. He’d learned long ago to set aside money specifically for Atem’s whims so he wouldn’t deplete his savings. Tonight after work, Jonouchi needed to quickly change out of his uniform into something more fitting for a restaurant that takes reservations. It was, after all, his and Atem’s anniversary tonight. That was something Jonouchi had a hard time wrapping his around, actually. For the most part, Jonouchi had never done long-term relationships. Atem was different, though. Atem felt like someone that he had to put the effort in for and that included the long-term aspect of a relationship.

No one else could get Jonouchi to wear a suit, after all. While he might be a little bit uncomfortable, Atem complimented him on how sharp he looked and Jonouchi preened. “Thought I’d get all fancied up for you,” Jonouchi said with a grin. “Glad you like it.”

“Oh, I don’t like it,” Atem said and Jonouchi’s heart dropped for a second. “I love it.”

Jonouchi rolled his eyes, lightly shoving Atem in a joking manner. “Hey, man, don’t tease me like that,” Jonouchi said, his grin betraying him. Atem always seemed to put a smile right on Jonouchi’s face. “I was worried that you didn’t like my suit.”

Atem rolled his eyes as he adjusted Jonouchi’s tie. And then Atem pulled Jonouchi down to him, smirking as he pressed a kiss to Jonouchi’s lips. Jonouchi was surprised but more than happy to kiss him right back. He pulled Atem closer with a light groan, a blush appearing across his face as he realized they were going to be late for their reservations if they got caught up here. “You look great,” Atem assured him as Jonouchi pulled away. “You always look great.”

It was easy to feel good about himself in that moment. The end of the night was always the most stressful part of the night. He knew by now to take double the amount of cash he expected to spend that night. When the bill came in, he learned to avoid being obvious about being worried how much the meal cost. If nothing else, the smile on Atem’s face more than made up for how much his wallet was hurting. He could make up the cost of tonight’s meal. He just needed to work a few extra hours next week. It was no big deal.

His birthday was fast approaching, and Jonouchi already had his eyes on an apartment that seemed perfect for just him. The best part was that Jonouchi already had the money together to make the security deposit. If all went right, he could move in on his birthday. A decent birthday gift to himself. And perhaps Anzu was right. Perhaps he should talk to Atem now that he was going have to worry about making rent. Not as many fancy dinners in Atem’s future with that looming over his head.

“Happy birthday, Jonouchi,” Yugi called as Jonouchi entered the Kame Game Shop with the intention of letting Atem know what was going on. “Atem’s in the storeroom, by the way. Oh, wait, before I forgot!” Yugi went to reach for something behind the counter and pulled out a neatly wrapped present. “I got you a gift for your birthday! Sorry it’s not much but…”

“Nah, it’s probably great, Yug,” Jonouchi said quickly, cutting Yugi off before he could apologize for whatever he got him. In his experience, Yugi vastly underestimated how much each of his gifts meant to him. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Of course I did,” Yugi said, looking as if Jonouchi had just suggested that Yugi launch him into space. “It’s your birthday! You get friends gifts on their birthday.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it,” Jonouchi said as he took the neatly wrapped gift, unwrapping it rather quickly. He was surprised to realize it was the new Duel Disk. The one that Jonouchi couldn’t afford. “Yug, I can’t accept this.”

Yugi’s eyes went wide, looking almost confused. “Do you not like it? Cause I can get you it in a different color if that’s the issue, but I just -”

Jonouchi shook his head. “It’s not that, Yug,” Jonouchi said quickly. “It’s just… This is such a nice gift, and I… I wouldn’t be able to afford to get you something this nice on your birthday.”

It was a little shameful to admit that he couldn’t get something this nice for Yugi. He wanted to be able to accept this and know he could get Yugi something equally as amazing on his birthday. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case. Jonouchi could save for the next six months and never actually have the money to get Yugi something equally as nice. “Oh,” Yugi said, shaking his head. “You don’t have to worry about that. You know that I’d be happy just spending time with you and the rest of our friends. Seriously, just take it. You said you wanted to be a professional duelist. You’ll need it.”

As much as Jonouchi wanted to protest, he couldn’t argue that the new Duel Disk was often a requirement for some of the regional tournaments. Jonouchi could not enter unless he had this. He swallowed his pride and nodded. “I promise to be the best duelist I can be,” Jonouchi said, a little more emotional than he thought possible. “That’s how I’ll make up for you getting me this.”

“I know you’ll go far,” Yugi said, turning just before Atem entered. “Hey, other me. Jonouchi’s here. I believe you wanted some alone time?”

Atem was grinning the minute he locked eyes with Jonouchi. “That’d be great, partner,” he said with a nod and without another word, Yugi bounded up the stairs. “So, I know our friends want us to have dinner as a group but… Mind if I steal you away for lunch?”

This was exactly what he was worried about. “Er, I actually was going to tell you…”

“No, no, don’t worry about paying,” Atem said, looking rather proud of himself. “Grandpa gave me a paycheck for helping out around the shop! I can pay for lunch this time!” Wait, how did he know? “Anzu told me,” he said to Jonouchi’s unasked question. “She told me that I need to stop expecting you to pay all the time. Why didn’t you tell me I was being rude?”

He knew Anzu had done this because she cared about Jonouchi. However, he couldn’t help but be a little irked. This was supposed to be his problem. “Guess it never came up,” Jonouchi said, sticking his hands in his jacket. “Where we goin’?”

“Anzu recommended this nice sushi place,” Atem said brightly, grabbing another box from under the counter. Jonouchi could only hope that whatever Atem got him wasn’t something ridiculous like what Yugi got him. Thankfully, the box seemed kind of small so maybe it was just a few of those cheap booster packs. “Thought it sounded nice. I’ve never had sushi before.”

“Sounds great,” Jonouchi said. “Lead the way.”

He was used to people noting Atem. Atem was a fairly handsome man and so it was only natural to see a few heads turn while they were walking down the street. It was probably why he reached to grab Atem’s hand. Atem didn’t even turn his head towards Jonouchi as his fingers laced with Jonouchi’s and lightly squeezed. Jonouchi felt a little smug as he noted the soft smile that appeared on Atem’s face. Atem always seemed just a little bit softer whenever he smiled. Sure, that was rare for most people but not Jonouchi. Jonouchi felt like Atem always was smiling around him. He liked that.

He didn’t know what he expected when Atem led them into a rather nice-looking restaurant. However, if Atem said he was paying…perhaps he would realize rather quickly how much money things cost. The waitress was cordial enough, leading them to a private booth per Atem’s request. “I got you a gift for your birthday,” Atem said, pushing the gift towards Jonouchi. “I thought it might work for your deck.”

Once again, Jonouchi felt strange as he unwrapped the gift to discover a Red Eyes Alternative Black Dragon sitting inside the box. He knew this card well. He’d been wanting one since the card was first announced. He’d given up any hope of getting one, however. The regular Red Eyes Black Dragon was fairly rare and expensive, and the new version was equally rare. “Atem,” Jonouchi said, rather choked up. “You really… how did you get this?”

“It took a lot of work,” Atem said with a shrug. “Most of it was finding one that someone was willing to part with. Admittedly, I still don’t understand much about the modern world, but I do know that Kaiba’s plastic cards seem to hold much power over people.”

“Sorry, did you say Kaiba’s plastic cards? Did you use his credit card to buy this?”

“That’s what Kaiba called it, yes,” Atem said, looking a little mystified. “I don’t understand how it works but the man who sold me this was more than happy to take the plastic card in exchange for this card. I think I got the better deal.”

Jonouchi paused for a moment, admiring how Atem had no idea how much he just fucked over Seto Kaiba. Instead, he seemed innocently unaware that he absolutely has enabled someone to rack up a huge credit card bill on Kaiba’s dime. “You know what, bud? I absolutely will accept this gift,” Jonouchi said, not about to tell Atem the real gift was that he fucked over Kaiba. The best way he could think of to thank Atem for the best birthday gift was to lean over and press a soft kiss to Atem’s lips. For a brief moment, Atem seemed surprised before melting right into the kiss. There was just one more thing Jonouchi wanted to know. "Do you happen to have any more of Kaiba's little plastic cards?"


End file.
